Leptochiton (plant)

This article is about the genus of plants Leptochiton Sealy. For the genus of polyplacophoran molluscs, see Leptochiton (chiton).

Leptochiton is a genus of South American plants in the Amaryllis family.^[4][5]

Leptochiton Temporal range: 24.46 –0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Late Oligocene – Recent[1]
Leptochiton quitoensis[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Amaryllidoideae
Tribe:	Hymenocallideae
Genus:	Leptochiton Sealy
Type species
Leptochiton quitoensis (Herb.) Sealy
Leptochiton is native to Ecuador and Peru[3]

There are 2 known species, native to Ecuador and Peru:^[6]

• Leptochiton helianthus (Ravenna) Gereau & Meerow - Peru (Cajamarca)
• Leptochiton quitoensis (Herb.) Sealy - Ecuador (Guayas, Loja), Peru

Description

Leptochiton quitoensis (Herb.) Sealy bulb with scale bar (3 cm)

Generative characteristics

Leptochiton has phytomelanous seeds, which is unique among the tribe Hymenocallideae.^[7]

Cytology

The diploid chromosome count is 2n = 24 or 2n = 34.^[7]

Phylogeny

It is closely related to Ismene, to which it shared a common ancestor 26.14 million years ago. It is the sister group to Hymenocallis, from which it separated 24.46 million years ago.^[1]

Hymenocallideae	Hymenocallis Leptochiton Ismene

References

1. Meerow, A. W., Gardner, E. M., & Nakamura, K. (2020). "Phylogenomics of the Andean tetraploid clade of the American Amaryllidaceae (subfamily Amaryllidoideae): unlocking a polyploid generic radiation abetted by continental geodynamics." Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 582422.
2. illustration from Baker, John Gilbert. 1878. Curtis's Botanical Magazine 104: plate 6397, as Ismene tenuifolia
3. "Leptochiton Sealy". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
4. Sealy, Joseph Robert. 1937. Botanical Magazine 160: plate 9491
5. Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744.
6. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
7. Meerow, A. W., Guy, C. L., Li, Q. B., & Yang, S. L. (2000). "Phylogeny of the American Amaryllidaceae based on nrDNA ITS sequences." Systematic Botany, 708-726.